Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Call of Duty: Vanguard reportedly coming this year, per leak

Logos and images from the latest entry in the Call of Duty franchise have reportedly leaked on Twitter and Reddit. The game, titled Call of Duty: Vanguard, appears to be 2021’s entry in the series, reports CharlieIntel.

The images come from a data mine of the season 5 update for Black Ops Cold War, which contained the leaked images in its files. The setting appears to be World War II, confirming months’ worth of rumors. Publisher Activision has not officially announced a Call of Duty for 2021, but they are actively issuing takedown notices for reposts of the images.

Recommended Videos

A variety of Vanguard images were found within Black Ops Cold War‘s files. The game’s key art and logo were found, as were promotional images for a Standard Edition, Ultimate Edition, and Cross-Gen Bundle. According to the leak, the game will have an open beta, with early access and exclusive content available to those who purchase the Ultimate Edition. The content includes a variety of skins and weapons for several of the game’s operators as well as an XP boost.

This is not the first time the Call of Duty franchise has used World War II as a setting: The aptly-named Call of Duty: WWII used the war as a backdrop for its campaign and multiplayer modes in 2017.

The leaks come amid a powerful lawsuit at Activision Blizzard. Former employees have alleged that Activision Blizzard’s upper management created and maintains a hostile “frat boy” workplace culture that disproportionately targets women. Current and former employees have reported sexual harassment and lower pay at the hands of the company’s higher-ups and allege that those who are responsible had not been punished for their actions. The lawsuit is still ongoing.

Emily Morrow
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Emily Morrow is a games journalist and narrative designer who has written for a variety of online publications. If she’s…
Activision shuts down Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer mod one day before launch
A man in black armor holding a shotgun and leaning against a wall.

A highly anticipated mod for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered was canceled shortly before launch because the developers received a cease and desist letter from Activision.

The mod team revealed in a post on X (formerly Twitter) the day before launch that it was shutting down the whole endeavor.

Read more
Activision finally has a solution for giant Call of Duty file sizes
Soldiers fight in a shopping plaza in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

It wouldn't be a Call of Duty launch without conversations about large file sizes, but Activision is looking to address those issues with a series of updates over the next few months. One of the biggest involves decoupling the free-to-play Warzone from the main game, which will help to make Black Ops 6 smaller than Modern Warfare 3, according to the publisher.

While Activision hasn't revealed game file size just yet, these new changes will be implemented starting on August 21 with Season 5 Reloaded. In a blog post published Thursday, Activision developers laid out plans to streamline textures and to encourage users to download early, but making Warzone a separate download by default will be the most impactful on file sizes. Warzone is a battle royale that's a separate, free-to-play game, so there's no reason to keep it tied with the latest Call of Duty main release. It'll be available to install at any time, and players can opt to download it with Black Ops 6.

Read more
Here’s a very, very detailed look at Black Ops 6’s zombies mode
A bunch of characters standing around with guns getting attacked by flying giant bugs in Call of Duty's zombies mode

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 - Round-Based Zombies Terminus Reveal Trailer | New Gameplay

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is bringing back its fan-favorite Zombie mode, but it's not just a copy-and-paste job from a previous title. In a giant, detailed post on its website Thursday, the developers at Treyarch not only revealed its new map Terminus, but revealed a ton of new quality-of-life updates.

Read more